REVIEW – My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell’s Books): “Kaylee has one addiction: her very hot, very popular boyfriend, Nash. A banshee like Kaylee, Nash understands her like no one else. Nothing can come between them.

Until something does.

Demon breath. No, not the toothpaste-challenged kind. The Netherworld kind. The kind that really can kill you. Somehow the super-addictive substance has made its way to the human world. But how? Kaylee and Nash have to cut off the source and protect their friends—one of whom is already hooked.

And so is someone else…”

Thoughts:My Soul to Keep is the third in the Soul Screamers series. Having not read the first two, I was a bit concerned that I would miss too much. Thankfully, Ms. Vincent recaps just enough details to be able to follow the story. The horror and suspense may not have the same build-up as it would have had I been more familiar with Kaylee’s story, but it still exists. All one misses is some character development and certain specifics about past events. This means that a reader can still enjoy the story without having to read the first two. For a series, this is always a good sign.

Of even more attraction is the fact that My Soul to Keep is immensely readable. Given that it focuses on a relatively new mythology that has not been done to death by other YA authors, the story is fresh and fun. The bean sidhe provide a whole new look at death, while unraveling the mysterious events make it difficult to stop reading.

Unfortunately, as much as I enjoyed the story, I did find fault with the main character. Kaylee waffles between spunky and unsure. This become bothersome because they were total contradictions of each other, and similar situations would result in quite different reactions. I get that this behavior could very easily be attributable to being a teenager, yet it still became frustrating. Also, I struggled with Kaylee’s motivation for becoming involved in situations that, on the surface, are none of her business. This part of the story was extremely disjointed and not fully explained. It is the one part that I felt may have made more sense had I read the first two books.

In spite of my concerns about Kaylee’s motivation and reasons behind her actions, My Soul to Keep is quite enjoyable. The bad guys truly are evil and dangerous; better yet, the good guys are not quite as good as they appear to be. The lack of paranormal romance was also quite refreshing; sometimes, it is good to take a break from stories of that kind, and My Soul to Keep was a great way to do so.

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Disclosures

Unless specifically stated in the review, I have purchased all books reviewed. All opinions expressed are uniquely my own.

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